St. Cloud man suspected of domestic assault in attack of girlfriend

A 22-year-old St. Cloud man faces three counts of domestic assault in connection with the assault of his girlfriend Monday night.

According to a criminal complaint, St. Cloud police were dispatched Tuesday to a report of a domestic assault Monday night.

The complaint said police met Tuesday with a woman who told them she had been assaulted by her boyfriend, Brandon Thomas Nygren.

The woman said she and Nygren had gotten into an argument Monday night and she left the house, but returned after "receiving text messages from the defendant stating that if she didn't return he would harm her cat." She told police she believed Nygren was intoxicated.

When she returned, the argument continued. According to the complaint, when the woman began to leave Nygren "grabbed her by the hair and threw her to the ground." The complaint said he then "covered her mouth and nose to the point she was unable to breath."

The woman said she began to "claw" at Nygren and made enough noise so his roommates heard and stopped the assault.

Officers spoke Tuesday to Nygren's roommates. The complaint said one roommate told officers he heard a "loud bang" come from the room, and heard a woman yelling "'stop,' 'I can't breathe' and 'help.'" The other roommate told police he heard similar noises coming from the room and "began banging on the door" of Nygren's room to intervene.

The complaint said upon arrest Tuesday, Nygren submitted to a preliminary breath test and registered a 0.219 blood alcohol level. It also said Nygren stated he "had been fighting a lot with (his girlfriend) over the past week, but it was not physical."